SourceAmerica

SourceAmerica
Founded June 26, 1974 (1974-06-26)
Type Central Nonprofit
Legal status 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Headquarters Vienna, Virginia
Location
Employees
400+
Website www.sourceamerica.org

SourceAmerica (formerly NISH) is a U.S. nonprofit agency that creates employment opportunities for people with disabilities through its national network of affiliated nonprofit agencies. Roughly 50 million Americans have a disability; it's America's largest and most diverse minority group. [1]

Company History

SourceAmerica is one of two U.S. central nonprofits designated in the Javits–Wagner–O'Day Act to support nonprofit agencies participating in the AbilityOne Program. Both central nonprofits work to provide employment opportunities for people who are blind or have other significant disabilities by providing them opportunities to produce goods and services under federal contracts.

SourceAmerica was incorporated on June 26, 1974 as National Industries for the Severely Handicapped (NISH)[2] . The organization changed its name to SourceAmerica on July 1, 2013.

The U.S. Department of Defense is its largest customer.[3] Affiliated nonprofits manufacture military uniforms, gear for Special Forces, chemical protective suits, military recruit bags items and more.[4] Its agencies also sew American flags[5] that the Veterans Administration sends to military families[6] when a veteran passes.

SourceAmerica and its network of nonprofit agencies also contract with commercial entities to provide products and services. In addition to companies such as Starbucks, Inter-American Development Bank, PetSafe and Grainger, small entrepreneurial ventures such as Blush & Whimsy[7] and Luna Innovations Incorporated have found business solutions with nonprofit agencies[8] in the network.

Services

SourceAmerica consists of a network of more than 1,300 non-profit organizations which provide the legislative and regulatory assistance, communications and public relations materials, information technology support, engineering and technical assistance, and extensive professional training needed for successful contract management.[9] Through its local Community Rehabilitation Programs, SourceAmerica currently provides employment opportunities to over 50,000 disabled individuals. Most of them are employed under contracts to produce items or provide services to the United States government.

Governance

SourceAmerica is governed by a board of directors. Each of the six founding organizations has a permanent seat on the board: Goodwill Industries International, National Easter Seals Society, United Cerebral Palsy, The Arc, Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies[10] and ACCSES.

Investigations

On July 31, 2015, CNN reported that SourceAmerica was being investigated by authorities for illegal operations, financial fraud, mismanagement, operating in violation of the law, steering of contracts, and possibly obstruction of justice.[11]

On September 4, 2015, federal agents raided the corporate offices of Goodwill Industries in Memphis, Tennessee in an apparent escalation of the investigation of the AbilityOne Program.[12] Goodwill Industries has received more than $22 million in AbilityOne® contracts since 2010,[12] and in 2017 SourceAmerica had two Goodwill executives on its board of directors.

On November 16, 2015, WikiLeaks released over 30 hours of recordings of SourceAmerica's former attorney Jean Robinson.[13] "That's the way they play the game. We are dealing with the mafia here, the old SourceAmerica mafia," Robinson states.[13]

Following the accusations made in 2015, SourceAmerica surveyed its nonprofit agencies. Using certifications by the individual nonprofit agencies, audits conducted by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission®and data from on-site reviews conducted by SourceAmerica, results showed 96 percent of the nonprofit agencies in their network met or exceeded the 75 percent ratio [14].

At other times in its history, SourceAmerica has been involved in court proceedings regarding AbilityOne Program requirements.

On October 28, 2015, the Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of SourceAmerica[15] in a bid protest brought by NTI. The judge's ruling indicated that SourceAmerica complied with the law and the NTI's allegations in the case were not true.

On May 18, 2016, Senator John McCain introduced language into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017 to discontinue Department of Defense contracting with the AbilityOne program and SourceAmerica until they can be reformed.[16] The bill states in part: "The Secretary of Defense shall not contract with the AbilityOne nonprofit agency ... until such time that the Inspector General for the Department of Defense certifies to Congress ... the internal controls and financial management systems of the AbilityOne non-profit agency ... are sufficient to protect the Department of Defense against waste, fraud, and abuse."[17]

This Senate language was modified during the FY 17 NDAA House-Senate Conference Committee. The final language, Section 898 of S. 2943, signed into law on December 23, 2016, created the Panel on Department of Defense and AbilityOne Contracting Oversight, Accountability, and Integrity. [18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Diverse Perspectives: People with Disabilities Fulfilling Your Business Goals". United States Department of Labor. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  2. ↑ "NISH Relauches as SourceAmerica". SourceAmerica. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  3. ↑ "AbilityOne Program". Defense Pricing and Contracting. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Clothing, Textiles and Individual Equipment". U.S. AbilityOne Commission. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Stars, Stripes and Strength: People with Disabilities Stitch Symbols of Comfort for Veterans' Families". SourceAmerica. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Meet the Young Man Who Makes Flags for America's Fallen Soldiers". NBC News. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Magical Lipsticks by Blush & Whimsy to Be Included in 'Everyone Wins' Nominee Gift Bag on Hollywood's Biggest Night". Markets Insider. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Fairytale Beginning: How an Often-Overlooked Workforce is Powering a Startup's Success". SourceAmerica. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  9. ↑ "NISH". Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Reuben Rotman, NJHSA's CEO, Joins Board of SourceAmerica". Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ Investigations, Scott Bronstein and Drew Griffin, CNN. "Sources: Disabled work program mired in fraud". CNN. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  12. 1 2 Investigations, Scott Bronstein and Curt Devine, CNN. "Agents raid Goodwill in investigation into AbilityOne". CNN. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  13. 1 2 "WikiLeaks - The SourceAmerica Tapes". wikileaks.org. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  14. ↑ "Fiscal Year 2016 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR)" (PDF). AbilityOne. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  15. ↑ "National Telecommuting Institute, Inc. v. The United States, Peckham Vocational Industries, Inc. and SourceAmerica" (PDF). WIFCON. 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  16. ↑ CNN, Scott Bronstein and Drew Griffin. "Federal agency accused of fraud could lose majority of contracts". CNN. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  17. ↑ McCain, John (2016-05-26). "Text - S.2943 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017". Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  18. ↑ "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017" (PDF). 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
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